Read Matthew 16:13-20
From the Artist | Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman
I don't know if this was a moment of clarity for Peter, if
he was regurgitating the answer he thought Jesus wanted to hear, or if he was
trying to convince himself that dropping everything and following this man was
worth it, but I imagine this was a breakthrough for Peter.
I wanted to capture this as a moment of seeing and being
seen. Jesus sees him as more than Simon, a fisherman and son of Jonah, and
renames him Peter, the blessed foundation through which his ministry would take
root and continue to grow. Jesus sees Peter through the eyes of God.
Peter sees Jesus as more than a teacher and companion. He
sees through the veil of confusion concerning Jesus' identity. He doesn't see
him as the reincarnation of a former prophet, or another contemporary baptizer
pointing the way. He names Jesus as the "anointed one," the one his
people have so desperately longed for. Peter proclaims Jesus as Messiah and Son
of the living God.
In this image I wanted to create a kaleidoscope of
perception, imaging the ways Jesus is perceived in the context of this passage,
like light broken down into a myriad of shapes and colors. In the gold rays of
light Jesus' form is obscured by the metallic shine of God's glory. In the gray
and earth-tone rays he is seen in monochrome. Each of the earth-tone rays holds
a pattern on Jesus' clothing which represents a misunderstanding of who Jesus
is. Starting on the left, honey, locusts, and baptismal waters misidentify him
as John the Baptist. Within the next ray to the right, ravens, an empty chair,
rain, and fires from the heavens misidentify him as Elijah. On the right,
scales of justice and plants being uprooted and planted misidentify him as
Jeremiah.
Through the middle of the image, there is a ray of light
where the image comes into full color that holds this moment of clarity where
Jesus and Peter truly see one another. In this ray, Peter's clothing holds
symbols of his new identity: a rock upon which the Church will be built and
keys to the kingdom. Jesus' clothing holds imagery—an oil jar and the light of
the sun—representing the way Peter sees him as the Messiah and Son of the
living God.
Reprinted with permission from A Sanctified Art
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